Abstract

The PILOT program, a joint research and development agreement between the authors' three companies, was begun September, 1992, "to further advance this technology for commercial introduction." Two questions need answering here: What is PILOT and what is "this technology?" PILOT stands for Pilot Integration of Lightwave and Optical Technology and the technology is keyed to polymeric waveguides for optical interconnects. To attain "commercial introduction" we limit ourselves to polymeric materials with the potential for inclusion in a packaged device whose cost isn't prohibitive. The emphasis on polyimides, which already may be found in advanced electronic packages, arises naturally from their well known thermal and mechanical stability. We present here some preliminary results from the evolution of a process to build buried channel, single mode waveguides in fully cured polyimides.

© 1993 Optical Society of America